It is known to provide sanitary napkins, including maxi-pads, mini-pads, shields or the like, in non-planar arcuate configurations. Sanitary napkins of this type are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,192,439; 2,964,041; 3,236,238; 3,262,451; 3,407,814; 3,411,504; 3,430,630; 3,445,897; 3,575,174; 3,621,847; 3,677,249; and 3,696,187.
Conventionally, such non-planar sanitary napkins are produced by the use during the manufacturing operation of an arcuate forming head, employing sufficient heat and pressure to impart the desired configuration to the napkins. See, for example, Glassman U.S. Pat. No. 3,696,187. It is also known to produce arcuate or otherwise curved sanitary napkins employing a heat shrinkable material for the cover of the napkin, whereby the application of heat shrinks the cover, thereby curving the pad. This technique is described, for example, in Ashton Pat. No. 2,964,041, and Morse Pat. Nos. 3,262,451 and 3,236,238. Other techniques for forming curved sanitary pads are disclosed in the further patents referred to hereinabove.
It is among the objects of the present invention to provide a method for producing non-planar sanitary napkins which is easier, less-costly, and may be carried out more efficiently than these previously proposed techniques. A further object of the invention is to provide such a method in which shaping of the sanitary napkins is effected concurrently with the final packaging thereof, without the addition of independent shaping operations.